To get a look at him in street clothes, it wouldn’t seem so scary to encounter Gennady Golovkin in a dark alley late at night. He doesn’t have a particularly formidable frame, or a fearsome mien. In conversation, he’s humble and soft-spoken, often flashing a disarming smile. But make no mistake about it; Golovkin is capable of reducing just about anyone standing to a bloody pulp in a heartbeat.
Golovkin, a native of Karaganda, Kazakhstan, is a boxer who holds the WBA and IBO middleweight titles. And he’s not just any champ. In 27 bouts as a pro, and in countless amateur fights, no opponent has ever landed a blow that sent him to the canvass. That’s right. He’s never been knocked off his feet in the ring. Bryan Graham, a boxing expert writing in the American periodical Sports Illustrated, characterized Golovkin as a “middleweight terror.”
The champ will be defending his title on November 2 at New York’s Madison Square Garden against a high-ranked middleweight Curtis Stevens, who has a record of 25-3, with 18 of his wins by knockout.
Appearing at a news conference held at Kazakhstan’s UN mission in New York, Golovkin portrayed the fight’s venue as a Mecca for boxers. The Garden has hosted a long list of legendary bouts, none more venerated than the “Fight of the Century” between heavyweights Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier back in 1971. “For every boxer, it’s a dream to fight in Madison Square Garden,” said Golovkin.
Despite his history of absolute dominance in the ring, Golovkin avoided any brash talk about the upcoming bout. There were no knockout predictions, no belittling of his opponent. He’s taking nothing for granted, seeing no opponent as a pushover. “We prepared well,” he said simply.
Stevens, whose boxing nickname is “showtime,” is a native New Yorker who grew up in the borough of Brooklyn. The crowd on fight night, then, is likely to be heavily rooting against Golovkin. When asked if he was mentally prepared to fight in a hostile environment, he didn’t blink.
“Of course,” he shrugged.
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